The present invention relates to an electromechanical connecting device having magnets to urge electrical contacts into a conducting relation, but in which the magnets do not themselves actually conduct the electrical current.
A predecessor connecting device is described in EP 0 573 471 B1. The previously known connecting device, which consists of a switching mechanism that functions as a conventional socket-outlet and a tripping mechanism that functions as a plug, provides a connecting device which exhibits a very small overall depth and meets high safety requirements.
In the electromechanical connecting device according to EP 0 573 471 B1, both the mechanical and the electrical contact are performed via magnets. Accordingly, both the operating slide, which can be connected to power supply contacts, and the actuating magnet are electrically conductive. The power connection is led directly via contact points to tripping magnets in the tripping mechanism, which are likewise electrically conductive. The magnets are surrounded by an earthing (or grounding) ring which is flush with the insulating housing of the switching mechanism. A disadvantage of this arrangement, however, is that in the case of a short circuit electrical conduction causes damage to the heat-sensitive magnetic assemblies. Moreover, because of the conduction of voltage and current through both the contact points and magnets, the previously known device is still of relatively wide construction.